Merchandise display hooks are utilized in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and designs for the display of carded merchandise and the like. Typically, such mechandise display hooks are formed of wire, and are designed to include one or more outwardly extending wire arms for the support of merchandise and/or information. At the back of the hook, there is typically mounted a base plate or base member, by which the hook may be mounted for display. Most typically, the base member is provided with a pair of L-shaped lugs, engageable with a pair of openings in an apertures panel board.
To a substantial and continually increasing extent, display mechandisers are setting up point-of-purchase displays with merchandise display hooks that utilize, in conjunction with the product display, an information label. The information label contains such data as price, product description, unit pricing, and bar code information for automatic readout of all of the foregoing, as well as for inventory control. Especially because of the desire for automating the task of inventoring display products, the presence of a label containing bar code information is becoming increasingly important. As a result, it is becoming more common for merchandise display hooks to incorporate a first wire-like arm for the support and display of merchandise, and a second wire-like arm, extending above the first, for support of an information display label. Particularly advantageous, earlier forms of merchandise display hooks for this purpose are shown in prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,351,440, 4,405,051 and 4,474,351, issued to Trion Industries, Inc., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The present invention is directed to merchandise display hooks of the general type reflected in these earlier patents, but incorporating features of improvement, particularly with respect to the mounting of a label support on the wire-like arm and with respect to the mounting and retention of an information label on such label support.
In the display hook of the beforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,051, a label support arm is provided at its outer extremity with a rectangular metal plate, preferably secured by welding. The metal plate is of a standard size and configuration for all styles and sizes of hooks. The label holder itself is a plastic device for extruded construction, having continuous horizontal flanges at the rear, which are slideable laterally over the rectangular mounting plate. In the prior device, the plastic label holders are extruded in continuous form, to accommodate low cost manufacture, and are later cut to predetermined length, for customization to the needs and desires of individual users. The display hook of the '051 patent has been extremely successful commercially. Nevertheless, we have observed opportunity for still further improvement, particularly in the area of label positioning, ease of assembly and in the esthetics of the device itself as well as of a complete display utilizing the devices.
In the marketing of a two-part display hook, such as shown in the beforementioned '051 patent, it is customary to ship the two parts in disassembled condition, with the final assembly being performed by store personnel. This enables the store management to determine the desired size and shape of label holder, for example, for a particular display. One of the disadvantages of this procedure, however, is that the store personnel may be somewhat careless in centering the extruded label holders on the metal mounting plates, which can detract from the visual appearance of the overal display. Additionally, the label holders are subject to subsequent lateral movement on their mounting plates, either by customers or store personnel, even though they are mounted rather tightly on the metal plates. This too can make a merchandise display look less neat and orderly than would be desired.
In our patent application Ser. No. 902,431, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, there is disclosed an improved form of injection molded plastic label holding plate, which incorporates significantly improved features for mounting of the label holder on the metal plate of the display device. Molded plastic label holding plates are, of course, not new in a broad sense, an example of a known form of molded label holder being disclosed in the beforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,440. Nevertheless, the use of such molded label holding plates has not heretofore been commercially successful because of what was thought to be the inherently higher cost of the molded device of functionally equivalent characteristics. In accordance with the present invention, the molded plastic label holder is so designed and constructed that it can be mass produced on high speed, automatic injection molding machinery, such that its cost is entirely competitive with label holders of extruded construction. The new label holder is, however, functionally greatly superior to the extruded item, partly because of the facility with which the new molded label holder may be mounted on the hook, and the positive manner in which the label holder is positioned, and also because of the facility with which information display labels may be mounted on and removed from the new label holder.
The label holder of the invention includes spaced, vertically disposed mounting flanges, centered along the back face, which are open at the bottom for vertically downward application of the holder over a flat metal mounting plate at the end of the display wire. Abutment means at the upper edge of the label holder limit the downward movement thereof and position the label holder properly on the metal mounting plate. A resiliently deflectable locking element, which is displaced during the initial application of the label holder over the mounting plate, assumes its normal position when the parts are fully assembled and serves to lock the label holder in position on the mounting plate. This locking element is accessible only from the rear of the label holder, when a label is in position thereon, and is normally concealed by the presence of the label to effectively prevent unauthorized removal of the label holder.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, discontinuous label-retaining flanges of a novel design and construction are provided on the front face of the label holder, certain ones along the bottom edge and others along the top edge, for retention of an information label at the front surface of the plate. Advantageously, the label holding plate is provided with horizontal through openings opposite each of the label mounting flanges. Likewise, the label holding plate is provided with vertical through openings opposite to and coextensive with the flanges provided for engagement with the vertical edges of the metal mounting plate. These various openings accommodate the presence of mold elements, such that the plate may be produced by high speed, precision injection molding processes with molds of economical design. At the same time, the several openings formed in the label holding plate do not compromise the performance of the device.
For a more complete understanding of the above and other features and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, and to the accompanying drawing.